


Life of a Praetor

by MidnightSonder



Series: Life of a Praetor [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Life of a Praetor, Praetor Percy, Roman Percy Jackson, Roman! Percy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26240632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightSonder/pseuds/MidnightSonder
Summary: A more detailed look at Percy's time as Praetor.(Drabble series based off my story "Permanent Swap")
Relationships: eventual Percy Jackson/Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano
Series: Life of a Praetor [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906102
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	1. Praetor

_Praetor. Praetor. Praetor_

Percy was lifted in the air like he was crowd surfing at a concert. Except they were on a battlefield and he was being elected as their leader.

Part of Percy wanted to roll out of their hands and turn down the position. He didn't deserve the honor of being made Praetor. However, the larger part of Percy was basking in the joy of finally being accepted by the legion. After weeks of suspicious looks, this was proof that they trusted him.

When he saw that it was Reyna leading the march back to Camp Jupiter, Percy leaned back and let the crowd carry him. He could see a lot of Camp Jupiter from his position. He frowned and felt something lurch in his stomach as he realized how much destruction had been done.

**-Ω-**

"I swear on the River Styx that I will led New Rome and Camp Jupiter with honor and integrity. I swear as Praetor that I will do whatever it takes to protect Camp and my comrades. I will stay by Rome until my last breath."

He grinned Reyna who gave a tentative smile back. They joined hands and raised them high for the crowd to see before ascending to their seats in the Pavilion.


	2. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Promises are hard to keep"

Percy sighed as he looked over his new residence. He missed the fifth cohort, he didn't sleep there for long, but he felt a connection while he was there. Now, he felt isolated and alone. He laid down slowly but found it hard to fall asleep without the reassuring sounds of people sleeping around him.

"Ah, screw it," Percy muttered and wandered outside. He couldn't just lay there and hope for sleep, if he couldn't sleep then he would do something.

Outside felt more peaceful. There was no one in sight, but Percy at once felt less lonely due to the regular sounds of nature. It was a nice night, it was surprisingly warm, but maybe that's just because he's used to colder weather.

Percy wandered around the building, looking for a good place to sit. He climbed a ladder at the back of the building, thinking he could get an unobstructed view of New Rome. To his surprise, he wasn't the only one up there. Reyna was seated on a blanket, leaning back on her elbows, and staring at the sky. She didn't look over as Percy approached.

"Do you mind?" he asked.

Reyna looked over and waved her hand, "Be my guest."

Percy sat next to her and looked up at the stars. It was a good night for stargazing, there were no clouds obstructing the view. Unfortunately, he didn't recognize any constellations, he wondered if that was because of his memory loss or because he never learned any.

"Do you know a lot of constellations?" Percy asked.

Reyna shook her head, "Just those used for navigation."

Percy nodded, he remembered Reyna's story about her past on a pirate ship. He wasn't sure how to reply, so they sat in silence for several moments.

"It's late, tomorrow is going to be a long day," Reyna said quietly. "We should both get some sleep."

Percy nodded in agreement, but neither of them moved. He didn't want to go back to his big cold room, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Reyna didn't either.

"It's lonely," Percy said suddenly, "In the new room, I can't get used to being alone at night."

Reyna sat up and smiled sardonically, "Thus is the life of a Praetor. You're separated from your peers and must maintain a façade of an unapproachable strict leader. It's the loneliest position in the legion."

"I suppose that's why there are two, so you won't be alone," Percy mused.

Reyna hummed in agreement, "Even that isn't a guarantee though."

Percy regarded Reyna for a moment. It struck him that she had been leading the Camp all alone for months. If he felt lonely after a few hours, then he couldn't imagine how Reyna must feel. He bumped his shoulder against hers in a friendly manner.

"Well, you won't be alone anymore, not while I'm here, that's a promise."

"Careful Percy promises like that are hard to keep," Reyna warned.

"Trust me Reyna, when I tell you it won't be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this one, the next story in the series will be up Wednesday or Thursday. Let me know what you think so far!


	3. The Senate 2a

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Just tell me what to do"

"This senate meeting is really just a formality. You've already been elected, they can't unelect you, not yet at least. But, you do need to make a good first impression, not everyone wanted you to become Praetor, and those are the people we have to win over," Reyna rambled as they walked towards the Senate building.

"Reyna don't stress out. Everything will go fine," Percy said soothingly. If anyone should be freaking out right now it should be him, Percy thought it was a little unfair of Reyna to take the role of 'the nervous one' without even asking him.

Reyna shook her head. "No, you don't understand how important this is, if the Senate thinks you're unfit then they'll blockade anything we try to do."

'Ah, shit,' Percy thought to himself. 'I underestimated the importance of this.'

Percy nodded slowly, "I understand. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

This is his first day as Praetor, he felt bad for not being able to contribute more to the decision making, but he didn't even know the rules and customs yet.

"Okay, we have to seem united, but we can't appear as if one is leading the other."

Percy nodded again. It made sense, there are several reasons to have two Praetors. The first reason is for the workload and loneliness, second reason would be in case one of them dies or gets sick, but the most important is the third reason which is to keep each other in check.

"I see, but how do we do that?"

"We'll utilize your proposal, as a new Praetor you have to propose the first project you want to work on as Praetor. The senate will either approve or disprove the plan."

"Let me guess, I'm going to propose fixing the damage from the battle?"

"Bingo," Reyna answered with a grin. "We'll split the proposal in two to show that we both support the idea and worked together on it, but by splitting it up we also show that we're doing equal work."

"That's smart. So, I should focus on discussing the aqueduct and water system while you discuss the other damages in New Rome?" Percy knew instinctively how sewers and aqueducts work, he assumed it was the same as how he automatically knew his way around a boat.

"You catch on quick. I'd also like you to mention weaponry that was lost during the battle and propose the plan to rearm the legionnaires."

That was also something easy for Percy, especially because they had brought all that gold from Alaska back. If there was one thing that Percy might know better than water, it was weapons.

Percy grinned and fist bumped Reyna, "Sounds like a plan!"

He was admittedly a little nervous, he'd only been at Camp Jupiter for about a month, but with Reyna's plan he was confident that they'd be able to win over the Senators.

Together they entered the Senate building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, originally, I decided to divide these into small chaptered stories, but I didn't like how chaotic it made my profile look so I decided to delete the additional stories and just add them all as chapters here


	4. The Senate 2b

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue Prompt: "it's all fake, anyway"

Percy was on a high as they left the Senate building. Reyna and he walked down the main road in silence for several minutes. Reyna kept trying to subtly look over their shoulders.

"So, are we spies now? Are we trying to lose a tail," he finally asked.

"No, I'm trying to make sure that they're watching," Reyna said in a low voice before adding, "And when I grab your hand start smiling at me."

Before Percy could ask what was going on, Reyna whispered, "Now!", grabbed his hand, and dragged him into a small coffee shop. Percy wasn't much of an actor, so it took all his mental willpower to get the big, goody grin on his face.

Inside the coffee shop, Reyna led them to a secluded in the back corner where she sat down with a sigh of relief. Percy tapped his foot anxiously.

"So? Do you think it went well? And what was the hand holding about?"

Reyna took a long sip of her coffee. Percy wasn't sure where she got it from and could only assume, she was purposefully dragging this out to torture him, the cruel woman.

"Yes, I think it went spectacularly," Reyna said, a small smile appearing around her cup.

"How can you tell?" Percy asked curiously. He could tell the senators didn't hate him, but he had no clue if they were impressed or nor.

"I know because the senate is all fake, except for today."

Percy shook his head, "What, do you mean they usually send cardboard cutouts instead of going in person?"

Reyna set her cup down. "No, I mean, their reactions are usually fake. The politics can get rough, it's common for most senators to wear a mask to hide their true feelings. However, today the masks fell."

Percy slowly caught on to what Reyna was saying, "Ah, so I was so cool and amazing that they forgot to maintain their masks," Percy said cockily.

Reyna rolled her eyes, "Oh yes, however did you know?" she asked sarcastically.

"So why did you drag me in here like that?" Percy asked in confusion.

Reyna held up her fingers, "Two reasons. One, to maintain our image of unity. True partners will go out to celebrate with each other. Two, to see their genuine reactions to us being a team. The ones who looked happy are people we can trust-"

"And the ones who looked angry we need to be wary of," Percy filled in. "That's really clever, I honestly admire you." Percy felt a little lame. They were supposed to work together, but he didn't feel like he was contributing as much.

Reyna blushed, "Thank you Percy, I know today you had to put a lot of trust in my and my plans, but I'm confident that you would have made a great Praetor even if I wasn't here. In the future, we'll make the plans together."

Percy grinned and nodded at her. She said exactly what he needed to hear.

Percy leaned over and grabbed an empty cup left at the table nearest to them. He raised his cup and waited until Reyna reluctantly did the same, "Cheers to our first successful Senate meeting! Here's to hoping future ones will be equally successful."


	5. The Mistake 3a

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue Prompt: "How many times have I told you to be careful?!"

Reyna slammed the door to their shared workspace and glared at Percy. The windows made a high-pitched whining as the wind howled against them.

"How many times have I told you to be careful?" Reyna hissed.

Percy glared back; he was not in the mood to be chastised.

"It was one person! Nothing happened that can't be fixed," Percy argued.

"But it shouldn't have happened in the first place!" Reyna exclaimed. "I have told you countless times how important it is that we look like a united force. All it takes is one person for a rumor to spread, why don't you understand that?"

Percy knew she was right and that he messed up, but he was mad and couldn't bring himself to apologize. "Of course, I know that! Don't talk down to me like you know more than me."

"I do know more than you, which is why you're supposed to do what I say," Reyna shot back.

Percy recoiled. "So, you lied to me? I thought we were supposed to be partners and work together, or are we just putting on a show for the camp?"

Reyna froze, "Is that what you really think?"

Percy shrugged uncomfortably. His anger was leaving him and he was starting to feel guilty for yelling. He did feel like Reyna was making most of the plans and decisions, but he knew that was only because he had only been Praetor for two weeks. He shook his head, he couldn't have this conversation while he was still mad.

"I can't talk about this right now. I'll see you in the morning," he muttered.


	6. The Mistake 3b

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue Prompt: "we'll figure it out in the morning"

Percy couldn't sleep, his argument with Reyna still on his mind. He will admit, he was in a bad mood. Does that justify him being a dick? No, but it makes it a little more understandable.

He found himself getting out of bed and wandering outside, if he wasn't going to sleep he could go do something useful and check on the guards. As he opened the door, he heard a bang come from the back of the building.

He went over to investigate and found that the ladder had fallen.

"Percy, can you help me with that?" a voice came from the roof. Percy looked up to see Reyna on her knees at the edge of the roof.

"Reyna?" he asked in surprise as he went to get the ladder. He leaned in against the building and Reyna slowly climbed down.

"Why are you still up?" Percy asked.

"Probably the same reason as you, I can't stop think about our argument."

"Oh," Percy wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't angry anymore, but he still wasn't pleased with Reyna.

"Look, Percy, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that it seemed like I was just bossing you around. I guess I'm not used to being a teacher rather than a general," Reyna said.

Percy scratched the back of his head, feeling like a dick.

"No, Reyna, I'm sorry. I should have told you how I felt earlier. I got mad for no reason."

"So did I. I was thinking about it, and what happened really wasn't a big deal. I made a mountain out of a mole hill."

"I understand, everything seems worse when you're stressed. How about we just forget this ever happened?" Percy suggested.

Reyna smiled at him and nodded, "I can agree with that plan."

Percy grinned back, "Then we only needed to figure out what to do about that centurion I fucked up with."

"Ah, we'll figure it out in the morning. What's important is that we come up with a solution together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will update on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and if I have time there will be bonus chapters on Saturdays. I know, the chapters are kinda short right now, I'm going to try to make them longer.
> 
> 9/14 update- I'm having a lot of writer's block for this series so I'm going to put it on a short hiatus until I get some chapter pre-written. I plan to come back by October 5th


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